The Midnight Rose
by rasfruitin
Summary: A Whiterose AU where instead of the RWBY girls being huntresses, they're just normal working class people. Apart from Weiss, because she's obviously mega rich, as always.
1. A Break in the Routine

**I meant it when I said it. Back to the hopefully weekly Monday schedule, and this time I actually gave the story a fair amount of thought instead of just jumping in chapter by chapter like I did before.**

**Enjoy!**

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The Midnight Rose was the village's only tavern, a relatively small corner house whose bottom floor had been converted into a bar and all the living space from the bottom floor had been moved to the top. It was run by Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long and their father, Taiyang Xiao Long. The place was originally owned by Ruby's mother, Summer Rose, hence using her name in the title of the pub. It was exclusively family run and offered the friendliest and homeliest place in the entire village to catch up, hang out, or just have a good time. Some people might have even gone as far as to call it a gastropub, as they served a fair few dishes just in case anyone wanted a nice family day out, or wanted to try and eat through a hangover they had got at the very same pub. The village which held The Midnight Rose was a quaint place, the sort of place that was safe from Grimm attacks most of the time because the only thing to feel negative about was when the pub was shut. And that only happened when there was a beer shortage, as The Midnight Rose was such a community-spirited place that running it was more stress relieving than stressful. The village was on a couple maps, but only the expensive ones that had every minor landmark. It was signposted, but the sign had nearly fallen down and barely anyone came visiting anyway. The only regular visitors were the traders that brought the food they couldn't grow and the spirits they couldn't brew. The village had become entirely self-sufficient at one point, but eventually people got bored of the same food and drink, so they enquired to some passers by about including their village on the local trade routes and started bringing in all the top shelf items; rare meats, exotic fruits and vegetables and high end wines and whiskeys. People from the big cities never got to experience the strength of a small and tight community, peaking at just over a hundred people. Everybody knew each other and that kept them all happy enough, and all safe from the impending Grimm. At least as safe you could get, as no matter how happy you kept everyone, the odd patrolling Beowolf could quickly escalate to a devastating attack. However, no matter what, the village always bounced back up, not letting the defeat bring them down. After all, they had survived this long outside of the kingdoms by staying resilient, so why stop when the need for resilience was at its highest? The interior of The Midnight Rose was a long shot from the shoddy interior you would come to expect from a small village in the middle of nowhere. There were the standard tables in the centre of the room, which had a capacity of about sixty people in total, able to hold just over half of the population in one go, but that didn't stop more from squeezing in and standing around and leaning against the walls. The tabletops were constantly clean, either because the people there tried to keep tidy out of respect, or more likely the half sisters that ran the place just made damn good barmaids. The back half of the bottom floor had been converted into a kitchen used to cook the meals and the Xiao Long-Roses used it to cook their food too. The top floor was just their bedrooms, a living room and an office that had patio doors that opened to a balcony that looked over most of the village. No matter where you looked downstairs, it was always spotlessly clean. There was a small stage on the west side wall used for live performances, but when there was nothing scheduled they set up tables on the stage to account for the usual overcrowding. The evident popularity of the pub was a blessing and a curse; it brought enough business to keep the family comfortably in the green, but also meant that most of the time customers were left to stand around with their drinks. Not that they seemed to mind, however. They seemed perfectly content as long as they were some sort of intoxicated. This was the lifestyle of the Xiao Long Rose household – get up, run the tavern, sleep and repeat. It didn't seem mundane by any stretch, as every day spent with family was a blessing in their eyes, but when a woman dressed in a white dress walked through the tavern doors, she certainly mixed up the atmosphere and caught Ruby's eyes instantly. She was definitely not from around here. The fancy dress was enough of a giveaway, but Ruby knew everyone in the village by face and this girl was completely new.

As she walked through the crowd, she carved a path of people staring and ogling her, either just as entranced by her beauty as Ruby was, or they were offended by her offhanded looks and evident poshness. Whatever it was, Ruby was completely taken aback by this mysterious and beautiful woman, so much so that when she came over and asked for some top shelf white wine, Yang had to tap her on the shoulder to snap her out of her daydream. "Oh! Sorry miss, I was a world away." Ruby said, hoping that she wouldn't give a bad first impression straight off the bat.

"Yes. I noticed. As I said, I'll have your highest quality of white wine." The mystery girl requested, clearly a tad bit irritated at the need to repeat herself. Ruby only hoped she would stick around for a while longer so that she could turn her opinion around.

Ruby nodded in approval and turned to grab some of their import only, decades old wine, not thinking about the fact that wine was usually saved for functions only and that everyone else in the building was just drinking standard on-tap beer. She turned back and asked, "This okay for you?" The woman hummed in approval and Ruby reached for the corkscrew under the counter. As she brought it up and started to uncork the fine wine, she decided it best to start up some conversation to 'get the sparks flying', as Yang would always say as she teased her younger sister whenever a nice lad started talking over the counter to her. Ruby had made it pretty clear she was into girls, and Yang knew and respected that, but nothing on all of Remnant could stop her from teasing her baby sis. "So, what brings a proper woman like you to a small common village like this one?"

The woman looked up from admiring her fingernails and looked as if she was considering whether it was even worth it to talk to a barmaid from an insignificant village. "Well, if you're that curious, I'm running."

Ruby poured the wine into a fancy wine glass and placed the wine bottle on the counter, before pausing and realising what she just said. "Running? From what?" Ruby tried to stop herself from being too imposing, but the words just slipped right out of her mouth.

The mystery woman placed a hand round the wine glass, gripping it with what seemed like no effort at all. "That," she took a sip of the wine, tasted it for a moment, then cocked her head as if to say, 'not bad'. She placed the glass back on the counter and continued speaking, "is none of your business, barmaid."

Ruby looked mortified; she really had over imposed, and now she had no doubt left a bad impression. She scrambled to find the words to apologise, "Oh, I'm so sorry, miss! I didn't mean to over impo-"

"I don't believe I caught your name." The woman interrupted. Ruby didn't know whether or not to be relieved that she hadn't annoyed the woman or scared by the fact that this could mean she was going to have her assassinated. She certainly looked like she'd have the power.

"I- It's Ruby, miss. Ruby Rose."

"Oh, so this is your establishment, then?"

"Er- No miss, it was my mum's, but she passed away when I was just little, so it went to my dad." Ruby never really talked about this stuff, as The Midnight Rose's history was just widespread knowledge among the community at this point.

"Schnee. Miss Schnee. Miss _Weiss _Schnee. You can stop calling me 'miss' now, I think you'll find that my name suits me more. And I apologise for the loss of your mother."

"O- Oh, thank you mi- _wait._ You're a Schnee!?" Ruby nearly shouted out, as she never expected to find a _Schnee _of all people here in her family's quaint little corner pub. The Schnee's owned the largest dust company in all of Remnant, making millions – maybe even billions – of lien per year. They were the richest family on the planet, without a doubt. And here was the heiress to the whole company, in _her _village, sat in _her _tavern, drinking_ her _wine. The whole thing was almost too good to be true.

"I am indeed the heiress to the SDC; although I would appreciate if you didn't tell that to the whole room, Rose." It caught her off guard to hear _the _Weiss Schnee use her name in conversation. "And thank you for the wine." She sat up and straightened her dress. "Now I have to find somewhere to stay."

"Miss Schnee," Ruby piped up, "the building opposite this one is the only inn in town, and its always empty, so you'll get in just fine. Also, if you don't mind me saying, you might want to find a change of clothes. That dress – as nice as it is, and believe me _it is stunning,_ \- makes you stand out a fair bit." Ruby thought that she could at least offer some advice, as it may get her onto better terms with the Schnee. However, she also prayed she didn't overstep her boundary, as once she had annoyed the woman it was unlikely she would get another chance at redemption.

"Thanks for the help, Rose." She turned away and flicked her hair over her shoulder, making Ruby's heart skip a beat. It was like the room stood completely still as she admired the out of place Schnee heiress. She'd also be lying if she said she didn't catch a glimpse of her rear as she was walking away. The moment the woman had left the building, Yang appeared over Ruby's shoulder, simultaneously comforting her and startling her. As soon as she saw the expression on Yang's face, she knew exactly what was coming next.

"Was that our most expensive wine?"

Okay, that was not what she was expecting. "Yeah."

"And did she just drink it and then walk out?"

"Yeah."

"Without paying?"

"…"

"_Ruby?_"

"…Yeaaaahhh."

"She might be the ice queen, but you were sure _warming _up to her, eh Rubes? The Schnee charm really did a number on you. Enough to get a free drink, no less! Speaking of numbers, did you get hers?" This _was _what she was expecting in the first place. Nothing Ruby could have done would've completely voided the humiliation that was brought on by Yang's barrage of teases. There was no hope of her surviving the night.

Ruby fired back with, "Shut up, sis. We all know you and the chef are getting pretty cosy with each other." With this, Yang's face turned bright red and she turned to walk away from the situation. She walked straight past a customer and into the kitchen, where the chef was preparing a smoked salmon dish for a couple who had taken a stage table. Ruby followed after Yang, also completely ignoring the same customer. As she walked in, she saw the chef dividing up the fish, and almost felt bad for her, having to work in red-hot conditions in a red-hot kitchen. The chef was a cat faunus, but that hadn't led to any problems in the company, as none of them were racist monsters, but she had volunteered to take chef training and eventually rake the job. Everyone had assumed this was because she wanted to hide herself from the public eye, and it was probably at least half the reason. "You know, Blake, you really didn't have to take a job in the kitchen. You could easily work out in the front with us. No one would mind your cat ears, either. In fact, I know a certain blonde-haired employee that finds them _veeeery _attractive. She motioned her head towards Yang, winking as she did so.

"Nonsense. I realise that some people might not care about my heritage, you have no idea how much a person can change when faced with a faunus. Besides, I like being near the fish. I like to snack on them when I'm hu- I mean, what? No, I don't do… that. I can still keep the job, right?" Blake asked, nervously. Ruby just laughed her off and went back to working the counter in the front of house. The rest of the day was boring. There might have been _some_ interesting things to happen, or gossip to listen in to, but nothing could take the place of that beautiful woman that had completely stolen Ruby's heart. _Weiss Schnee._ The day went by in a flash, and before she knew it, Tai had taken the front of house and the two girls were in bed, almost fast asleep. Ruby just laid there, thinking about that girl, before drifting off into unconsciousness, with nothing but the Schnee heiress in her dreams.

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**I would give my right arm to see Whiterose become a thing in volume 7. You think I'm joking. **_I'm not. _**Any reviews appreciated, criticism or ****compliment.**


	2. A Change of Pace

**Moving the upload schedule to Sundays, because I can't wait any longer to get this one out in the wild. Tad bit longer this time round, and a lot more Weiss. Shoutout to my crew of three people who all wanted to proofread this one; Aleesha, Sophie and Emma. I would put a link to their pages, but none of them have any.**

**And that also means that if a single mistake got through I'm actually gonna crucify all three of them.**

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She felt as if she would never be able to muster up the energy to pick herself up. Ruby lay, unmoving, in her bed. It wasn't like she couldn't wake up, oh no, she had been wide awake for almost thirty minutes, but getting out of bed was a whole other roadblock. She might have laid there all day, if not for the all too familiar call of her sister emanating from outside her room and down the stairs.

"Ruby Rose, your mother would have an easier time getting up, and she's been dead for three years!"

"Yang!" Scolded Taiyang. Tai was always usually out in the town, working odd jobs for the community, making sure that everyone knew he was a reliable source of help, which in turn brought in more business for the pub. However, every Friday through Sunday he took a break to spend time with his girls. He made do, despite being a single father. He had never been the luckiest of men when it came to partners. One had up and left one night, with no prior warning and no explanation as to why, and the other had sadly passed on three years earlier due to complications with her health. Tai never let the girls in on what exactly had taken their mother from them, but they had realised by this point that asking him was pointless, as it was like asking a brick wall to knock itself down. Yang had always thought of Raven – her biological mother - as her mother, but Summer – Ruby's biological mother - was always her _mother_. She was there when it mattered most, she was the one who read her bedtime stories when she was little, and she was the one who had held her hand the night Raven left. Summer had been with the family ever since they bought the house in that small village, before it was ever converted into a humble tavern. She was the previous owner of the house, and she had always dreamt of having her own family business. So, the arrangement was that she would let them stay free of charge, if they helped her run her small corner pub. After a while, one thing led to another and they actually _were_ a family. Realising that after another call Yang was going to come upstairs and physically pull her out of bed and into her uniform, she took the liberty of doing her job for her.

The light from the sun of a new day was peeking through the curtains, illuminating a thin streak of dust in the air like a physical ray of sunshine. Ruby would have found this beautiful, had it not been beaming straight across both of her eyes. She opened her eyes and instantly slammed them shut again, wincing as the sudden change in light near enough burnt her retinas. She crawled out of the comfort of her bed, keeping her eyes screwed tightly shut until she was sure she was looking as far away from the light as possible. She slipped on her barmaid uniform as professionally as she could, trying to brush her bed head into some semblance of a proper hairdo. The uniform was nothing too overly fan service-y, but it did show a fair amount off. Enough to get the customers roped into buying another round of drinks, at least. Just as she was doing up the final button to her uniform, Tai shouted from down the stairs, "Don't bother with the uniform, you're going out!" _Just peachy._ She hurriedly undid her uniform and slipped into something more publicly acceptable. It was nothing special, just a pair of trousers and a white shirt, with a leather jacket to keep her warm. After making sure she looked presentable, Ruby took one final look in the mirror and walked towards the door to the hall, sliding her shoes on while on the way. Once downstairs, she was confronted by Tai, whilst Yang was rushing about in the background preparing the bar for the predictable rush of customers once lunch hour hit. As most of the jobs in the village had their lunch at relatively the same time, they all flocked to The Midnight Rose in one massive horde of hungry and thirsty customers. Tai looked at Ruby, almost as if he was judging her outfit and, after giving her a slight nod of approval, opened his mouth to speak.

"We're all out of whiskey, Rubes." That was all she needed to hear to know the immediate urgency of the situation. The man who ran the inn over the road, Qrow Branwen, was almost unbearable _with _his flask in hand, so all hell could break loose if he was ever more than one foot away from a drink. "You'd better get going now. If you had gotten up earlier you might not have had to rush, but it's your choice if you wanna cut things close."

"I'll be back in.." Ruby checked her watch. It was a gift from her mother, but that wasn't the thing on her mind right now, "Oh no."

"Oh yes. You, out those doors, back in a half hour. Move."

Ruby dropped her arm and prayed that the half hour from now till lunch was enough to get down to the town distillery and back again before the pub was burnt down by that drunk man's rage. _That might have been an exaggeration._ She darted out the door, leaving an almost literal dust cloud behind her. Ruby was known for her speed and was therefore always sent out on the urgent errands. She weaved in and out of the odd wanderer on the road, paying little attention to the now midday sun that was making the trees give off a lovely orange-gold glow, not unlike her sister's hair. As she was mid sprint, a ray of light glinted off of something and caused her to stop and stare. It wasn't the light that caused the reaction, however. Standing before her was none other than Weiss Schnee, the woman that had completely overrun her thoughts ever since the day before. She was dressed in a blue skirt and jacket, with a white corset covering up her stomach. Her hair was tied up into a ponytail, trailing so low it almost brushed her waist. The look made Ruby's heart skip a beat, but she knew deep down that just her face was capable of that. Just as she was about to be on her way, Weiss turned around and scanned Ruby with her gaze, unsure of whether to greet her or tell her to stop staring. Ruby snapped out of her trance and made an incredibly awkward turn away, only to look straight back at her. She was planning on just turning and walking on, but something about that girl was just pulling Ruby in, not letting her take her eyes off of Weiss.

"Can I help you, Ruby, was it?" Weiss looked completely calm, composed and collected, the polar opposite to Ruby. Just the fact that Weiss and she were apparently on a first name basis was enough to turn her into a nervous wreck, but the fact that she was addressing her in direct conversation was the icing on the socially anxious cake. Ruby never had problems talking to anyone, but then again, this wasn't anyone. This was the most beautiful woman Ruby had ever met.

"Er- I was just- just- I wasn't staring at you just then!" She could have literally said anything other than that. It would have probably gone better if she had said she used to have a crush on the picture of Weiss' older sister Winter in the July issue of Atlas Vogue when she was twelve. Which, embarrassing as it was, was definitely true.

"I wasn't implying you were." Weiss almost looked amused by the mess of thoughts and feelings that was trembling in front of her. "Again, can I help you?"

"I- I was just heading to the brewery to pick up some whiskey for-"

"The man in the inn. Yes, he was very _vocal _about his alcohol. Horrible man."

"He's uuhhh…. He's kinda my uncle." Weiss' face changed from one of disgust at the alcoholic inn owner, to one of surprise. If Ruby hadn't had been too flustered to notice, she would've seen the obvious signs that Weiss was holding something back. "Not by blood; but he takes care of me every now and then. Anyway, what're you up to?" Ruby really wanted to get her job done, but the opportunity to strike up a conversation with the one and only Weiss Schnee was too tempting.

"I was just looking for some fresh air, and maybe a place to sit and pass the time." For someone who looked as extra as Weiss, she sure didn't want much in life. Just a glass of wine and a bench.

"Well, I know a few nice places around here. I _was_ born here after all. I wouldn't mind showing you around either, it couldn't take long."

After a quick scan of the surroundings, and a scan of Ruby, Weiss replied, "It seems that you're more than just a simple barmaid, Ruby." _You got that right_. Ruby took that as a yes.

They walked for about five minutes, shooting pointless comments about the surroundings back and forth, ranging from the colour of the tree leaves to the names of some random passers-by. To any level-headed person, it would have seemed like a simple chat between friends, but Ruby was about as far from level-headed as ever, and this was about as happy as she had been all week. They eventually settled on a seat that wasn't far from where they started, but at this point they just wanted a seat in general.

"Well then, Ruby, tell me about yourself." Ruby gestured towards herself, surprised by the fact that she had become the topic of discussion. "Yes, you. I have just arrived in an unknown village and an unknown woman is leading me around it. I would like to get a general grasp of knowledge on at least _one_ of those two things."

Ruby was startled at first, but she came to once she realised this was her shot to prove to Weiss that she wasn't just another random woman. "So, you want like, my history?"

Weiss nodded, and added, "I just want to know about _you. _I want to know Ruby Rose."

It made Ruby shiver when she heard Weiss say her full name like that, but it was a shiver in all the best ways. It struck Ruby as odd that the woman was so immediately interested in her, but she was far from complaining. She wondered where to start her talk. She didn't want to give her the whole childhood deal and be dark and drab, but if Weiss wanted the full story, she could have the whole story. "Well I was born here, in this very village, and I've never really left. I've done the odd errand for my dad where I've had to go to the next town over, but other than that, I've always been here. My mum also came from here, in fact, she owned the pub before my dad. She- she passed away a few years ago, and she was bedbound for a year leading up to that. Some sort of condition - I never asked. My dad came from the capital, he was a teacher at Beacon academy. The headmaster had offered him a full-time job, but after a year or so he told me he wanted a taste of a simpler life. And that's how we ended up here. He met my mother, started a co-ownership of The Midnight Rose with her and voila! Here we are, nineteen years after I was born. Life gets boring around here, you know? After a certain amount of time living in the country and falling into the same old routine, just working in that damn tavern, you just sort of want a change. Anything. Anything that'll bring you out of the constant same old day. I always tell myself that I love it, that the daily grind is enjoyable, and as much as I love the pub and the people there, I _am _bored." Ruby stopped herself and realised how she had just got completely lost in the moment and gone through everything in her mind. She had just told Weiss – this woman she had known for less than a day – about feelings Ruby didn't even know she had. "Jeez, sorry I totally just unloaded on you there, huh?"

Weiss looked as if she was deep in thought, and she only snapped herself out of her daze once Ruby had finished speaking. Her face was almost sympathetic, like she had experienced the same thing. "Oh, not to worry. I _did _say I wanted to know all about you."

"I guess, but.. you know, you're the first person I've ever opened up to like that. Not even my sister knows I feel like that. Hell, even _I _didn't know I felt like that until just then. Yet here I am, telling all this to someone I've only known since yesterday." _More than just a pretty face. _Ruby thought. It was freeing to be able to just talk to someone, especially someone like Weiss, about the way things were around her. Despite her bouncy attitude and happy demeanour, she meant what she said. She had told herself in the past that she loved the routine, but in fact, it was horrifically boring at times. The only thing that brought it around was her sister and her dad, but most of the time they were all tied up with their own problems. Realising this was her chance to truly get to know Weiss, she gathered up the courage to ask. "So, Weiss, what about you? What brings you to this village in the middle of nowhere?"

Weiss looked away for a moment, giving Ruby the impression she said something she shouldn't have, but before she had a chance to apologise, Weiss turned back and opened her mouth to speak. "Well, I already told you I was running, and I suppose it's only right that I tell you why, and what from. After all, you did just open up to me. Despite what the papers and magazines may lead you to believe, my childhood was a dreadfully boring one, and at most times, incredibly hard, too. My father has always been entirely work-oriented, never giving any of his time to the family, and all of it to the company. My sister, Winter, left for the military when I was just a small child – around ten years old. This was much to my father's dismay, and it only made things harder for me around the house. My little brother Whitley, whilst not being as outrightly unbearable as my father, is just as unbearable in his own little way. My mother.. well, she suffered the same fate as yours, except she didn't pass on to an illness. She was assassinated. Murdered, by a faunus. Those beasts took everything from me. My mother was the only redeeming characteristic of my entire family, and she's _dead_." Weiss took a moment to compose herself, and then continued speaking. "Recently, due to my mother's passing, my father has been getting more… physical. He never used to be hands-on, but ever since she died, everything has been worse." Weiss' voice started to break and waver, like she was about to start crying and she was holding it in for conversation's sake. "He- He beats me, Ruby. Every night, he beats me. He comes home, drunk out of his mind and just- beats me! That's why I'm running. I'm running from that… monster, and from my old life." Weiss let it all out, and began to cry into her hands, hiding her face from Ruby. Ruby had never had to deal with anything like this before, in her life it had all been sunshine and rainbows, everything bad about the world had been hidden from her, and now it was all being shown to her in one horrifying package. Unsure of what to do, and not wanting to see Weiss cry like this, she placed her hand on Weiss' back, like her mother used to do to her when she was crying. She stroked her back as Weiss cried, all the time telling her it would be okay. If it was under better circumstances, Ruby might have said she was doing a damn good job of comforting her. Weiss leant into Ruby, crying into her shoulder as Ruby embraced her into a somewhat awkward hug. After what seemed like hours, but was realistically just a few minutes, had passed, Weiss started to calm herself down and regain her composure. "I- I'm sorry about that.. I don't usually burst into tears in front of people I've just met, it's just that I always get upset when I talk about," Weiss paused for a second, likely trying to fend off another breakdown, "_him._"

"Don't apologise." Ruby replied, "You shouldn't apologise for your feelings. It's not healthy." Ruby really didn't mind the fact that Weiss was crying in her arms. If anything, she enjoyed the warm feeling that she felt when she was embracing her. It almost sounded cruel that she was thinking about that right now, but she couldn't help herself, even if Weiss was still on the verge of crying. Just as Weiss was calming down fully, Ruby overheard a shout coming from The Midnight Rose, and the sound of a glass smashing straight after. She knew as soon as she heard the glass exactly who it was causing a ruckus. She hated to break the news to Weiss, but sadly, she had to go. "Weiss, as much as I would love to sit here all day and make sure you're okay, that sound is one hundred percent my uncle, and he will one hundred percent burn my place to the ground if I don't get him some fresh whiskey." Weiss chuckled at Ruby's half-baked attempt at cheering her up, and waved her off, before standing up herself and saying goodbye. They exchanged farewells and Weiss began walking in the direction of the village square, whereas Ruby broke into a full sprint in the direction of the distillery. Once in there, there was only a quick greeting between the man behind the counter and Ruby, before the man went into the room behind the counter to grab some of the spirit. The man was a faunus. Ruby thought back to what Weiss had said to her, about everything, from the blatant racism that, in Ruby's eyes, was perfectly justified to the fact that her father abused her. It was no wonder she was running, as her life sounded like hell in a house. All Ruby had to do was make sure that Weiss had nothing to worry about whilst she was here, with Ruby and her family, in their village. She wondered how Weiss would feel about Blake, too. Before long, the faunus was back out with a crate of whiskey. There was no need for payment, as that was all handled by Tai, so as soon as he handed her the drinks, she was out the door and halfway home in about fifteen seconds flat. Once she was inside The Midnight Rose, she slammed a bottle of whiskey down in front of Qrow just before he managed to get anymore irritated. _Crisis averted. _

Qrow turned to look at Ruby and upon seeing her, or more likely his drinks, he relaxed and smiled. "Hey, kid." Were the only words that came out of his mouth before he shoved a bottle in it. After he had gotten his fix, he placed the bottle down on the counter and enveloped Ruby into a drunken hug. Ruby tried to squirm out of the bear-like hold, but to no avail. She could barely breath, and when she could manage a breath, it tasted like alcohol, and lots of it. Qrow let Ruby go and gave her a second to catch her breath before he spotted Tai coming over from behind the bar, and so he took his drink, dropped a couple dozen lien on the counter and ran for the door. Tai shouted for him, but he just kept on running, drink in hand, until he was all the way over the road and back in his inn.

"I swear, that man hasn't been sober for a decade." Tai sighed from behind Ruby, before turning to face her. She knew she was in for it now. "You realise I said half an hour, right? I know it's only ten minutes behind schedule, but ten minutes is all he'd need to put us in the hole! What could you have possibly been doing that would have taken you more than half a fucking hour?"

"That's one for the swear jar, dad!" Yang shouted from the kitchen, no doubt eavesdropping on the whole thing.

Ruby debated in her head whether it would be best to tell the truth, or whether she should just keep it vague. "Weeeelllll, I saw that girl again-"

"The Schnee?"

"Yes dad, the Schnee. And we got to talking, and I guess I just lost track of the time." She really hoped that would be enough, and that he wouldn't ask what they were talking about.

"You got to talking? What were you talking about? Even _I _don't have half hour conversations." Just before Ruby managed to think up some completely believable and completely vague excuse, the sound of pots and pans smashing off the floor came from the kitchen. The perfect get out of jail free card. "Saved by the bell, eh Rubes? Go and see what they're up to in there. And put this in the jar, too." He handed her a single lien coin and went back to bartending. The swear jar had been Yang's idea, and it really had worked. When they first got the pub up and running they had complaints daily about the vulgar language and the cursing, and it only took five full jars and almost seven years to cut the swearing down to almost never. The jar was sat on the windowsill by the stairs, so on the way to the kitchen she popped it through the hole in the lid. As she pushed through the kitchen doors she was greeted by a sight that every younger sister could only dream of. There was indeed pots and pans scattered across the floor, as the sound had implied, but the real sight here was the two girls laying on top of each other in the middle of the floor. Yang on bottom, Blake on top. There was no doubt a great explanation for how it had happened, but that would ruin it for Ruby's imagination.

"I know you two like each other, but can't you separate work from pleasure?" Yang's eyes darted towards Ruby, and upon seeing her watching the two of them, she pushed Blake off of her and stood up straight in a matter of milliseconds. "You know, Yang, I always thought you'd be a top." The two of them exchanged glances and looked for any explanation they could find, until Ruby walked right back out and left them both to worry about what she'd tell Tai. Ruby wouldn't say anything, of course, but making them worry was even better than actually embarrassing them in front of Tai.

The majority of the day went off without a hitch, until the late evening when Weiss found herself right back in The Midnight Rose. Ruby noticed her immediately but, not wanting to look desperate, decided to keep quiet until she came to her. Once she was a few steps from the counter, Ruby finally spoke up, "Oh! Hi Weiss! Can I help you?" she might have come across as a bit more excited and a bit less cool than she would've liked, but she was hopeless at hiding her emotions.

"Actually, Ruby, you can. It might seem a bit odd, but I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Can I- stay here for the night?" Weiss was right. That _was _odd. Ruby was dumbfounded.

"W- what do you mean s- stay here? Like in my house?"

"Well, I would stay in the inn but my father, the great and generous man he is, has cancelled my card. So basically, and I never thought I'd be saying this, I'm broke. And I thought that you might have a spare room in this house of yours. So, if its not too much to ask, could I use one of your rooms for the time being?"

"Wait, before I answer that, let me ask you this; is the fact that we might have a spare room the _only _reason you're here? There's not like, a person-shaped reason?

"No. Just the room." _Damn!_ Ruby had hoped that she could coax something out of Weiss, but clearly her heart was as icy as her outfit. She would just have to melt it then, Ruby supposed.

"Well, lemme just get my dad. Because he's the one that pays the bills, not me." She ran off to find Tai, who was just cleaning the spilled beer off of one of the stage tables. The pub was at about half capacity now, as it was halfway between the normal time for a pub meal and the normal time for a night-time drink. She brought him over to the waiting Weiss, who was really eyeing the same wine she had been drinking the day before. Weiss explained her reasoning to Tai, and he thought about his reply.

"Well, we _do _have a spare room, and I really wouldn't mind you staying over, our chef, Blake, is currently using that room, so I'm gonna have to say n-" just before he could finish his answer, Ruby nudged him in the side and stared deep into his soul. It was a stare so fierce; it could have pierced through mountains. That single look said more than a hundred words. "So I'm gonna have to say yes! Sure, you can stay with us."

"But didn't you say your spare room was occupied?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. Ruby can sleep on the sofa!" Another thing to note about Tai was that he always had the last laugh. _Always._

The final few hours of the night went off without a hitch, ending with Ruby handing the shift off to Yang, who had been asleep for the majority of Ruby's shift. It was weird to have Weiss sat behind the counter all night. She didn't say much, just the occasional chit chat when there was nothing to do, but Ruby was usually preoccupied with other customers and the like. Once it was over, Ruby followed Weiss up the stairs and into her bedroom, cleaning the place enough to make it seem at least hospitable. "So, these are your quarters," Ruby joked, "and there's no need to be up at any set time or anything. Breakfast is usually at just after six, but we always keep cereal in the cupboard for any late-risers."

"What do you have?" Weiss asked.

"Pumpkin Pete's. We have that special edition, too. You know, the one with that red-haired girl on the front? Pyrrha, I think her name is. If you need anything, I'm just down the hall. The living room is opposite the stairs. You can borrow some of my clothes for the morning." Ruby turned to walk out of the room. "Oh, and one last thing,"

"What?"

"Goodnight, Weiss."

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**Smol shoutout to that one anonymous reviewer that told me to split up my paragraphs more. As before, any reviews appreciated, criticism or compliment, and thanks for reading.  
**

_**Also Emma had a go at me for not putting her discord here so **_**_Viye#2712 hope you're happy._**


	3. The Chef's Knife

**You see, when I said I was moving the schedule to Sundays, what I actually meant was just for that chapter... yeah, I _totally _meant that and didn't just completely forget I changed my deadline. Anyway, it's here now, so enjoy the chapter.**

**Swearing here too so get out your bible and pray for forgiveness.**

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Ruby knew she had woken up late straight away, just from the light coming through the window. Instead of the usual dim morning glow, the light was full beam. It illuminated the living room in ways she had never seen before and glinted off the mirror, further lighting the room in cascading shades of midday sunshine. She wondered as to why no one had come to wake her. It was a Saturday, but a pub usually got _more _business on a weekend, not less. She took her time getting up, as with no stubborn older sister to nag her, she could get going at a more leisurely pace. Once up, she walked over to her room to see if she could get some clothes, and to see if Weiss was up or not. She pushed open her bedroom door and half expected to see Weiss sprawled out across her bed, but it was (sadly) empty. _Early riser. _She rummaged through her draws to see what Weiss had taken to wear. To Ruby's surprise, her dress was gone. Although this was probably to be expected. It seemed the heiress liked to keep up a regal look even when in someone else's clothes. Ruby decided not to put The Midnight Rose uniform on and instead opted for relatively the same outfit as the day before, except it was clean and neatly folded. She decided to tie some of her hair back in a ponytail – despite it being too short to get in her way. It wasn't at all necessary, but Ruby always felt prettier if she did something with her hair instead of just letting it hang. Her hair had beautiful, or so she was told, red streaks running through it, which were somehow natural. People didn't question the wild and wacky hair colours in Remnant and her red streaks were tame compared to the more outlandish combinations, but they still got enough positive attention to convince her to keep them instead of dyeing them black, like the rest of her hair. She didn't really want to get rid of them either, as they reminded Ruby of her mother's deep crimson ends. She checked herself out in the mirror, wincing as the glinting light caught her eyes. Once she had readjusted her view, she cracked a smile and made the finishing touches to her look. She swapped out the dark red hair bobble she had used to tie her hair for a small black bow. She thought it might have looked like she was copying Blake's look, but Blake barely wore her bow anymore anyway. She had stopped wearing it more and more after the first couple weeks of working at their establishment, as she had started to get more and more comfortable around her new "family" as she liked to call it. Come to think of it, Ruby knew nothing about where Blake actually came from. She just sort of showed up one day in town and asked for a job. The Midnight Rose was short a chef, and she jumped at the chance. Even more so after they mentioned their variety of seafood dishes. Ruby finished tying up her bow and went to open the door to her bedroom, before she heard muffled shouts downstairs. She might have been mistaken, but Ruby could have sworn it was their new house guest's voice. She rushed downstairs to see what all the commotion was about, to find Yang and Weiss on the verge of a screaming match, and Ruby had a pretty good idea as to why. Blake was stood in the corner of the room, with a sad look on her face, clearly suppressing her feelings towards the argument. She had her bow in her hand, and her ears were out in the open. Ruby clocked the issue almost instantly upon seeing the scene. She should have known that Weiss would have had a problem with their faunus friend. It wasn't unreasonable, given her history, but clearly Yang had an issue with her view.

Yang was stood in front of Blake with her arm out, shielding her. This was no doubt her sisterly instinct kicking in. "I don't care how you were raised! Faunus are _people_, just like you and me! Look at her," Yang gestured towards Blake, who was clearly uncomfortable, with the sudden involvement only adding to the feeling, "are you saying that just because she has an extra pair of ears and she can see in the dark, she's in some way _less _than you? If anything, she's _more _than you! At least she doesn't discriminate!" Yang made a good point, but clearly she wasn't aware of what happened with Weiss' mother. Not that it made the racism okay, but it sure gave her a reason at least.

Weiss was stood opposite Yang, scowling, ironically looking not unlike an animal about to pounce. Her gaze was fixed mostly upon Blake, only looking at Yang when she started shouting. "You have no idea why I'm like this! These _things _are monsters! Degenerates! They're never anything but trouble! I have lived my entire life in fear of faunus gangs like the White Fang, who made mine and my family's life a living hell!" Something told Ruby that Weiss' blame was misplaced. Weiss had been through her fair share of troubles, and Ruby had to concede that most of them were probably caused by faunus, but she had to realise that in every culture there are extremists as well as normal, kind people.

Upon catching sight of her little sister, Yang's face relaxed and took on an apologetic shape. "I'm sorry, Ruby, but I've had it with this princess." She emphasised 'princess' to try and leave that final reminder that she had the last word of the argument. Yang usually never let anyone win her over in a battle of words. "I know you two are getting pretty buddy-buddy, but she can't stay here. She doesn't deserve to even stay in this village. What she _deserves _is a swift punch in the fa-"

"Yang," Ruby interrupted. "that's enough. She has her… reasons."

"What possible reason could she have that could justify this kinda discrimination?" Yang's face had returned to an angry one as she realised her sister was trying to defend Weiss.

Ruby glanced at Weiss, as if asking permission to share her innermost issues. Weiss inhaled, and closed her eyes, preparing to open up about her past. Before she did though, Ruby caught sight of someone looking through the window of the door to the room they were in. She put her finger up to signal to give her a moment, and she went and opened the door. On the other side, there was a crowd of roughly ten or fifteen people all bunched up together, who would have been pressed up against the door had Ruby not opened it. The entire building was dead silent, all eavesdropping on the argument. Her dad was nowhere to be seen, probably out running errands. No wonder everyone was bunched at the door, there was no one to serve them. Ruby just shut it again, silently. She returned to the bickering couple. "I should probably start serving our customers. That is why they're here, after all. They're not here to **eavesdrop on our family affairs!**" she raised her voice for the last sentence so that the gathered crowd could hear her. Once she had finished speaking, she heard the faint scurrying of people hurrying back to their seats, like when the teacher walks into the class and everybody is stood about talking. Ruby waved the three girls off and opened the service door again, this time walking through and stepping behind the bar. She grabbed a glass and tapped a spoon against it, getting everyone's attention and announcing that there would be no meals for the remainder of the day, due to personal issues with the chef.

Weiss, Blake and Yang walked up the stairs and into the living room, where they could continue their conversation away from the prying eyes of the customers. There were still the signs of a makeshift bed, with a blanket laid over the sofa and three cushions piled at one end. "So, what then? Speak up, ice queen." Yang wouldn't let her get away with the discrimination against her soon to be girlfriend.

Weiss made a visible effort to stay composed. The 'public appearance training' she had when she was a small girl back at the Schnee manor was finally paying off. "It's a sensitive issue, so forgive me if I get a bit emotional." Yang crossed her arms and furrowed her brow, subconsciously letting the room know she wasn't going to let anything change her mind. "When I was a young girl, my family was constantly under fire from various faunus rights groups,"

"I wonder why." Yang mumbled under her breath, just enough for Blake to hear but not enough for Weiss. Then again, Blake could probably hear anything, she had four ears after all.

Weiss continued; her speech uninterrupted by Yang's underhanded insult. "Therefore, I was raised to have at least some sort of negative feelings towards the faunus population."

Yang, once again, butted in, "That's not even close to reason enough!"

"I wasn't finished. Now, if you would be so kind as to let me continue?" Yang nodded, clearly even more annoyed than before. "As I was saying, we were the constant targets of faunus groups, however most were never violent. Until the White Fang came around. They started assassinating people. It started with coordinated attacks on dust shipments, but it slowly transitioned to taking out family ties. It was methodical, and it was clear to me, even as a teenager, that they were eventually going to take a shot at our immediate family. However, being as business oriented as he was, my father decided to use the company's security force to protect our 'valuable' dust shipments. No matter how much dust he could sell, it would never be as valuable as my mother." Yang dropped her arms to her sides as she knew pretty much exactly what Weiss was going to say next. "I watched it happen," Weiss began to stifle herself and hold back her tears as she continued her story, "right in front of me. There was no one there to stop it. They were all away on," she paused, "_company business._" She wiped her eyes with her hands and, realising she had no handkerchief like she usually carried, wiped her hands on Ruby's best dress. She just hoped it wouldn't stain. "A faunus wearing plain clothes and a White Fang mask ran at her with a knife and stabbed her." Weiss was really trying her hardest to suppress her emotions at this point, trying not to let her feelings demean her argument.

"I-" Yang didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry. But that was just one pers-"

"Fourteen times. The man stabbed her… _fourteen times. _I overheard the police counting the wounds. I stood there… I saw. I had to watch my own mother die. She was gone after the third stab. He just… kept on _going_. By the end, he was just slicing up a corpse… Do you know what its like to watch your mother – the one person that has protected you your entire life, no matter what, even when nobody else wanted you – die, in front of you very own eyes!?" Weiss had given in and there were tears streaming down her cheeks, but she tried her best to pull herself together and managed to stop her own crying. It was a horrifying picture she was painting, but Yang supposed it was natural to remember such an event in such grim detail.

Yang walked forwards, placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder and looked sympathetically into her eyes. "Yes. I do know what it's like." Weiss' face was a picture of shock, but her reaction was somewhat softened as she remembered what Ruby had told her, about her mother. "Ruby's mother; she was better to me than my own mum. She made sure I always had a person to go to, no matter the issue. And I watched her die in front of me. I tried to shelter Ruby from it most of the time, but I wasn't saved from anything. I saw my mum every day throughout her condition, and every day she got worse. She would constantly say she was feeling better that day or this day, or she would be up and about next week, but I could tell she was lying. I could see it in her face." Yang didn't react in the same way Weiss did when talking about her mother – Yang had realised years ago that placing blame was just a way to hide from your feelings, and that you had to face up to your demons. This way, she never really felt much in the way of sadness when telling someone about her family. Usually she resented herself for not feeling sad about it, but this time it worked in her favour, letting her talk about her experience without the constant threat of tears. "She kept fighting, for just about a whole year, always trying to see the bright side of things, only for it to be in vain. She died holding my hand, Weiss. Comforting me, putting her family over everything else, until the day she died." Yang had taken her hand off Weiss' shoulder and let both arms hang loose by her sides, as she took in a deep breath and composed herself after getting carried away talking about her own sob story. "I can't say I know how it feels to watch your mum get _murdered,_ but I can relate to what you're feeling. It took me a couple months to realise that no matter how much I wanted to just have something I could blame – something I could take my emotions out on, there was nothing. I couldn't blame anything, as it was just bad luck. You _do _have something to blame, and you _should _blame it, but you're blaming all the wrong things. You shouldn't blame all faunus for the acts of one extremist group. You've misplaced your blame, Weiss, and its not right." Yang turned away from Weiss and faced Blake, who had begun tying her bow back around her ears. Yang put Blake's hands in hers and moved them away from her head. She then tenderly removed the half-tied bow from Blake's ears and folded it up for her. "You don't have to hide who you are, Blake. Regardless of what people like… _her," _there was clear hurtful intent in Yang's words. "think about you." Weiss had expected Yang to just give in after hearing her story, but her reaction had planted a seed of doubt in her mind, making her think she might have the wrong impression of faunus-kind. It would take a lot more time for such deep-rooted hate to be replaced, but everything starts with a seed.

"Yang, I don't want to offend anyone… I really should have worn it from the start-" Blake was always the one to assume she was the problem, and so she constantly scrambled to apologise for 'her' mistakes.

"_You _aren't the one being offensive. There's no need to hide your true self for the likes of that prissy bitch. Come on, lets get back downstairs. Ruby'll need some help, no doubt, and the place can't run without your food. Yang grabbed Blake's hand and led her out of the room, scowling at Weiss as she left. Blake avoided Weiss' gaze.

Yang and Blake both went to their respective posts downstairs – leaving Weiss alone in the house's living room. Ruby saw the girls come down without Weiss and told Yang she was going to check on her. Yang couldn't say she approved, but she couldn't say no either. Ruby tiptoed up the stairs, being unusually quiet. It didn't seem right to go barging in after a heated argument. She reached the top of the stairs and heard muffled crying coming from behind the living room door. It seemed like Weiss was always in tears, but then again, she hadn't been having the easiest of times in the recent couple days. Ruby slowly turned the doorknob round enough to open the door and peeked inside the room. As predicted, Weiss was sat on Ruby's makeshift sofa bed, silently crying into her hands. Not even Weiss was sure _why _she was crying, but she was, and that's what mattered. "It looks like you just can't catch a break, huh?" Weiss stopped sobbing abruptly and looked up at Ruby, before leaning back against the sofa. "It's alright, I won't judge you for crying. I know my sister can be tough. Believe me, I've had experience." This won a slight chuckle from Weiss, to Ruby's delight. Though, Weiss was likely grasping at straws for any semblance of happiness. I'm guessing you won't be joining us for the family dinner then… If you want to stay up here, you can have my room again. You can stay in here if you want, but you'll have to deal with the bumblebees again if you do. I'll fetch you some food for dinner, how does that sound?"

Weiss nodded her head slightly. "Thanks for everything you're doing for me, Ruby."

"Well, I wouldn't say I've done a job worthy of thanks. You've been in tears twice in the three days I've known you, the rest of the family has fallen out with you and you don't even have your own bed to sleep in." Ruby didn't mind a compliment, but if she had to be honest, she meant what she said. She hadn't exactly been the world's best host – or friend, for that matter. It felt weird to call Weiss Schnee, the woman she had only seen in magazines her entire life, a friend. But here she was, and she was on the verge of tears. _Nice one, Rubes. _

"Despite what it may seem like, you're still leagues ahead of my father when it comes to comforting me." That was, on the whole, just kind of depressing.

"I'll see you at dinnertime then, ice queen." Ruby left with a wink and a smile. She had always been told her smile was contagious, and it showed. Weiss was left with a smile almost the same size as Ruby's, as she closed her eyes and got lost in her own thoughts. That smile quickly faded, however. As Ruby was walking down the corridor to the stairs, she remembered something. She turned, bolted to her room, nearly knocking down the door in the process, and started rummaging under her bed. After a few moments, she found what she was looking for – magazines. They were just normal magazines to anyone else, the kind that would be on the table in a waiting room at the doctor's office, except it would be weird to have magazines sporting Weiss and Winter Schnee on the covers when Weiss Schnee herself would be sleeping above them. Also, it might have come off a bit stalker-esque when the _only _magazines there were the Schnee ones. Ruby was a big fan.

Throughout the whole rest of the day, Yang and Blake completely avoided Weiss – or more the other way around – to the point where they were never in the same room together apart from when Yang and Weiss passed in the upstairs corridor. Yang acted as if Weiss wasn't even there, even then. Once again, Ruby was condemned to sleeping on the sofa. Not that she minded – after all was said and done, she was sure her sheets would smell nice and Schnee-like, as weird as it was. Blake had kept her bow off all day too, either in rebellion or, more likely, Yang just didn't let her wear it. It was a bitter note to end the day on, but it couldn't be helped. No amount of face-to-face could sort out this mess. What it needed was time. Time for everyone to realise their own mistakes and to come back down to Remnant, leaving their toxic feelings behind. Ruby began to drift off to sleep, laying spread out across the length of the living room sofa. It was surprisingly comfortable and just large enough for Ruby to lay fully outstretched. It wasn't the best bed in the world, but it did the trick.

_Time… just time. Time is all it takes._

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**Hope you enjoyed, as always. I'd also like to thank all the people who take their time to review my work, even if they just leave a compliment. It gives me more of a reason than I already have to keep my story going. The real heroes are people that leave genuine constructive criticism,(which I do take into consideration when I write my next piece, by the way) but I appreciate anything. As my motto goes;**

**Anything's appreciated, criticism or compliment.**


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